Hearing the Northern Lights!

Related video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvxT7gzA9xM

Natural Radio: When solar flares hit the Earth's magnetic field, the skies at both poles can light up with auroras. The particles also create very low frequency electromagnetic waves, a type of natural radio that can be picked up around the globe. Every year sound recordist Steve McGreevy heads north where the reception is best and points his receiver at the sky.

How can you hear these sounds, too? Tune in to VLF - Very Low Frequency. Here are some links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistler_(radio) and http://www.techlib.com/electronics/VLFwhistle.htm

A Minnesota Planetarium Video, this movie is made for use in the Planetarium dome, thus the circular frame of the images. Produced for Minnesota Planetarium and Space Discovery Center: http://mplanetarium.org/

Produced by Joel Halvorson - NASA Earth-Sun Museum Alliance (ESMA)
http://informal.jpl.nasa.gov/museum/Earth

Stephen McGreevy, Natural Radio - http://www.auroralchorus.com/

Audio gear for listening: http://www.auroralchorus.com/wr3gx.htm

Barrett Golding, audio - http://HearingVoices.com/

Part of NPR Lost & Found Sound series ( http://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/ )

Calvin Hall, photography - http://www.alaskasaurora.com/

For the International Polar Year (IPY) http://www.ipy.org/

More about Aurora: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvxT7gzA9xM

Plasma from solar flares or coronal mass ejections travel along solar wind to ultimately produce aurora's in Earth's polar regions. Aurora is a direct result of solar plasma interacting with gasses in the upper atmosphere.

When the molecules and atoms are struck by solar wind particles the stripping of one or more of their electrons ionizes them to such an extent that the ionized area is capable of reflecting radio signals at very high frequencies. This ionization occurs at an altitude of about 70 miles, very near the E layer of the ionosphere. The level of ionization depends on the energy and amount of solar wind particles able to enter the atmosphere.

The planetary K index (Kp) is a good indicator of the expansion of the auroral oval, and the possible intensity of the aurora. When the K index is higher than 5, most readers in the northern states and in Canada can expect favorable aurora conditions. If the K index reached 8 or 9, it is highly possible for aurora to be observed by stations as far south as Florida.

More info: http://sunspotwatch.com/

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Awesome! please show us the receiver!